Now that's how to get a DFC

[xray one]

The RAF pilot who dropped the Tricolor on occupied Paris - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/britain-at-war/9705446/The-RAF-pilot-who-dropped-the-Tricolor-on-occupied-Paris.html)

[Halton Brat]

I assume that this splendid deed spawned the french word 'panache'?

Massive cojones!

HB

[teeteringhead]

Absolutely massive - and he was all of 28 at the time! But it wouldn't be allowed to happen now. :(

That said, our boys (and girl!) certainly earn theirs now .... or both of theirs ..... or even all three of theirs!! :ok::ok::ok:

btw, is it true (or was I being wound up) that DFC (and equivalent or higher) holders get their service pension tax-free?? [Excellent idea if true!]

[AARON O'DICKYDIDO]

btw, is it true (or was I being wound up) that DFC (and equivalent or higher) holders get their service pension tax-free?? [Excellent idea if true!]

Never heard that before although I believe that VC and GC holders do get a small allowance of a few hundred quid per year.


Aaron.

[oldbeefer]

Just seems a shame to me that, if any descendants of his are still around, they'd rather sell the medals than keep them.

[airborne_artist]

His medals:

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02410/france-medals_2410824b.jpg

[Tankertrashnav]

Never heard that before although I believe that VC and GC holders do get a small allowance of a few hundred quid per year.




There has always been an annuity for holders of the Victoria Cross which was initially set at £10 p.a. in 1854. For UK holders I think it is currently around £1,500 p.a., tax free, which is also paid to holders of the George Cross. Commonwealth countries set their own rates.

I'm absolutely certain that the bit about tax-free pensions for DFC holders is untrue!

[fantom]

Curiosity; why the Atlantic Star?

[goudie]

And in Bristol Beaufighter too. Ideal job for the Mosquito I'd have thought.
Hats off to an extremely brave and daring crew

[Dominoe]

Section 638 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 provides that no liability to income tax arises on a pension or annuity if it is paid to the holder of a specified award for bravery in respect of the award. The specified awards are:
Victoria Cross
George Cross
Albert Medal
Edward Medal
Military Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Conduct Medal
Conspicuous Gallantry Medal
Distinguished Service Medal
Military Medal
Distinguished Flying Medal

The George Medal and Conspicuous Gallantry Cross are just 2 of the gallantry medals not included in the list of eligible awards.

[500N]

Re Atlantic star, I was wondering the same.

Mention here of a convoy that was hit.
Royal Air Force (Volunteer Reserve) Officers 1939-1945 -- G (http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RAFVR_officers_G01.html)

[Beancountercymru]

I'm not an expert on personal taxation but the phrase "no liability to income tax arises on a pension or annuity if it is paid to the holder of a specified award for bravery in respect of the award" would probably mean that the service pension that would have been earned had the DFC holder not received the award is subject to taxation.

So I have to believe that Teeters is wrong

[Tankertrashnav]

Dominoe - just in case people are getting excited, that list applies to pensions/annuities paid as a consequence of receiving the listed awards - It certainly doesnt apply to service pensions - the Treasury isn't that generous!

Re the Atlantic Star, without knowing his service history I dont know why he got it, but I am assuming that his first operational tour was on Coastal Command which would qualify him for it. What is strange though is that he doesnt have the Aircrew Europe clasp on his Atlantic Star ribbon. Ops over Europe (including dropping a tricolor over Paris!) would qualify for the Aircrew Star (or clasp in this case). Perhaps he got the clasp and it just got lost -easily done!

[izod tester]

During the sortie over Paris and when he was OC a Coastal Strike Wing in 1944 he was serving with Coastal Command. I think all Coastal Command aircrew received the Atlantic Star, certainly Izod Tester Snr received one and he flew Hampdens and Beaufighters in the anti-shipping role.

[AARON O'DICKYDIDO]

KEN GATWARD flew one of the most audacious and daring raids of the Second World War. Informed by the SOE in the Spring of 1942 that the Germans paraded down the Champs-Elysees every day between 12.l5 and 12.45, the Commander-in-Chief of Coastal Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Philip de la Ferte Joubert, called in Flt Lt Gatward and asked him if he would volunteer for an "unsafe" mission.
Gatward was an immensely skilful pilot who had already achieved fame for his low angle attacks on enemy positions after Dunkirk. Volunteering to fly on day "ops" he would "hop" from wave to wave and attack barges preparing for the invasion of Britain. Without knowing the task Gatward agreed and so did his navigator, George Fern. They were to fly low level down the Champs-Elysees, strafe the parade, and if that failed attack the Gestapo HQ in the former Ministere de la Marine.
In early June 1942 he made three sorties across the Channel but each time had to return because there was no cloud cover. Prior to the next attack Gatward and Fern were given a Tricolour and told to drop it over the Arc de Triomphe. Gatward cut the flag in half and the parachute section sewed iron bars into the material.
On 12 June Gatward took off with Fern from Thorney Island in pouring rain. As he got to the French coast the rain stopped and the sun came out. Even though he had not been given permission, Gatwood decided to take the risk and fly low level over enemy territory, in fact seldom more than 30 feet above the ground.
A startled crow smashed into the Beaufighter's oil cooler radiator causing the oil gauge to read erratically and the temperature to increase. Gatward saw the Eiffel Tower sticking up like a match-stick and at 12.27pm banked to port and headed towards the Champs-Elysees.
"I'll never forget the astonishment of the crowd in the Paris streets as we swept low at rooftop level. They had been taken completely by surprise," he was to recall later. Unfortunately the usually reliable intelligence source had got the time of the parade wrong and he had arrived several minutes early. Fern, however, released the first Tricolour down the flare shute like a harpoon over the Arc de Triomphe.
Gatward had sighted the Ministere de la Marine in the Place de la Concorde, so flew south over the Seine, returning again to rake the building with 20mm cannon shells. The gun fire terrified the SS troops who, much to Gatward's delight, were seen running for their lives. Fern, the quiet ex-schoolmaster from the Forest of Dean, with a large smile on his face dropped the second part of the Tricolour.
Gatward just cleared the Gestapo building and turned for home. He was not only chased by tracer fire but attacked by flies which smacked into his windscreen so that he could barely see, but fortunately it began to rain as he crossed the channel and as bits of the crow began to drop off, the cockpit temperature began to cool. Throughout the raid Fern had been taking photographs and they were both delighted with a clear picture of a large notice outside the Grand Palais which read "La Vie Nouvelle" ("New Life").
The French crow, or what was left of it, was removed and laid to rest at RAF Northolt when Gatward landed. He was later to hear that German troops had been waiting for the parade in the side streets, but the whole ceremony was abandoned because of the confusion caused by the attack.
With bleak news coming in from the Western Desert the excitement created by this spectacular raid raised the morale of the country. The handsome and self-effacing Gatward was awarded a DFC and both he and Fern were feted everywhere they went.
Alfred Kitchener Gatward was born in 1914 above Hornsey police station, where his father was Chief Inspector. After leaving St George's College in Palmers Green, he became a reporter for the local paper before joining the wallpaper manufacturers Colorall, and was with them when he joined the RAF Volunteer Reserves in 1937.
A sergeant pilot at the outbreak of war, he was commissioned in 1940 and flew Blenheims with No 53 Squadron on low level raids. In 1941 he converted to Beaufighters and flew with No 236 Squadron. After his raid on Paris he was appointed personal assistant to Lt-Gen Mason MacFarlane, the Governor of Gibraltar, where he was involved in the plan to smuggle Churchill on to the Rock, prior to the landings in North Africa.
In June 1943 Gatward returned to operations as a Flight Commander with No 404 Royal Canadian Air Force squadron where he was very much at home with their youthful high spirits. Operating from Wick, it was Gatward's busiest period of the war and as he recalled, his "hairest".
With the loss of his commanding officer, Gatward took over command in March 1944. In August he led a well- orchestrated raid with 24 Beaufighters against enemy shipping in Norwegian waters and, although under intense fire from ship and shore, succeeded in sinking four minesweepers and putting a destroyer out of action. Casualties however were high. At the end of the war, Gatward was in command of No 157 Wing. It was a war in which he lost his two brothers, Frederick and Douglas.
In 1946 he became the liaison officer with the USAF in Germany. In 1955 he took command of RAF Odiham and later served with Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. He ended his 30 years with the RAF as a Group Captain at Air Cadet Headquarters at White Waltham. He was then commissioned into the training branch of the RAFVR as a Flight Lieutenant where he delighted in calling people "Sir" who had formerly called him "Sir".



He must have also been awarded the 1939-45 War Medal.

[matkat]

A truly amazing story.:D

[teeteringhead]

no liability to income tax arises on a pension or annuity if it is paid to the holder of a specified award for bravery in respect of the award. ... thought it was too good to be true!

So I was being wound up (probably)

[SOSL]

AAO'D thank you. What a story.

In our own humble way that's what we all wanted to do when we joined up.

But we ain't all heros.

Rgds SOS

[E-Spy]

I'm curious (and Google doesn't have any obvious answers!), what happened to his equally crazy and brave navigator, George Fern?

[Al R]

And Inheritance Tax may be ignored if the person dying, does so as a result of wounds sustained on active service. When the Duke of Westminster died in the 1960s, his estate's legal team successfully argued that a wound sustained in 1944 was a cause of death. That exemption may now be relevant to more people in the years to come, following intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Hempy]

http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib/54/media-54310/large.jpg?action=e (http://www.iwm.org.uk//collections/item/object/205211341)
ROYAL AIR FORCE COASTAL COMMAND, 1939-1945.. © IWM (C 2733) (http://www.iwm.org.uk//collections/item/object/205211341)IWM Non Commercial Licence (http://www.iwm.org.uk/corporate/privacy-copyright/licence)



Bristol Beaufighter Mark IC, T4800 'ND-C', of No. 236 Squadron RAF, on the ground at Wattisham, Suffolk. On 12 June 1942, Flight Lieutenant A.K. Gatward with his navigator Sergeant G. Fern, took off from Thorney Island and flew T4800 at low-level to Paris where they dropped a French Tricolour on the Arc de Triomphe, and then attacked the Gestapo Headquarters in the Ministere de la Marine with cannon fire. Upon returning safely, Gatward was awarded an immediate DFC.http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib/60/media-60397/large.jpg?action=e (http://www.iwm.org.uk//collections/item/object/205218986)
ROYAL AIR FORCE 1939-1945: COASTAL COMMAND. © IWM (C 4546) (http://www.iwm.org.uk//collections/item/object/205218986)IWM Non Commercial Licence (http://www.iwm.org.uk/corporate/privacy-copyright/licence)

On 12 August 1944 the SAUERLAND, a heavily armed Sperrbrecher (mine-detector ship), was hit off La Pallice by Beaufighters of No 236 Squadron and a detachment from No 404 Squadron RCAF, both operating from Davidstow Moor. The ship was left floundering and later was finished off by the Royal Navy. The aircraft flying overhead in this photograph is reportedly that of Wing Commander Ken Gatward, the CO of No 404 Squadron and one of the RAF's leading anti-shipping 'aces'

[SOSL]

Good point E-Spy lets hear it for navs. Not me I'm an Eng!

Rgds SOS

[GeeRam]

And in Bristol Beaufighter too. Ideal job for the Mosquito I'd have thought

There weren't many Mossie's around in April 1942 ;)

NFII's had only just entered service, and the B.IV versions didn't enter service with 105 Sqn until the following month.
The FB version didn't even exist in Apr '42.


Nice to see some publicity for the brave crews of an often forgotten aircraft (in the public eye) that played a vital role at home and overseas :ok:

[Antrim Kate]

He must have also been awarded the 1939-45 War Medal.


He was - the picture in the paper paper shows that, and also an Air Efficiency Award.

On a discordant note, did someone mount those medals, or did they just happen to land like that (with some of the ribbons backwards for good measure)?

And, while I'm in a bad mood, the gentleman with three of the aforementioned decorations was mentioned in the London Gazette the other week without so much as letters after his name, let alone the asterisks...

[Tankertrashnav]

Antrim Kate - These medals dont appear to be mounted for wear which is surprising given Gatward's post war career - I can only assume that they have at some stage been removed from their suspension brooch and laid out (incorrectly) as shown. Not only have all three stars had their ribbons reversed, as you point out, but the DFC projects below the other medals -mounted for wear its ribbon would be shortened to prevent this happening.

I used to see lots of badly mounted medals. I had the great honour of remounting the medals of a well-known Battle of Britain pilot which were in a very untidy state when he brought them to me. It was a pleasure to restore them to how they should appear.

[Hempy]

Just to prove to Warmtoast that I can actually touch up photographs (:ok:), and to add my contribution re: respect..

http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib/54/media-54310/large.jpg?action=e
Bristol Beaufighter Mark IC, T4800 'ND-C', of No. 236 Squadron RAF, on the ground at Wattisham, Suffolk. On 12 June 1942, Flight Lieutenant A.K. Gatward with his navigator Sergeant G. Fern, took off from Thorney Island and flew T4800 at low-level to Paris where they dropped a French Tricolour on the Arc de Triomphe, and then attacked the Gestapo Headquarters in the Ministere de la Marine with cannon fire. Upon returning safely, Gatward was awarded an immediate DFC. http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k144/h3mpy/large_recoloured_zps4b5605e5.jpg

[FODPlod]

Hempy - Nice job. :D

I've loved the look of the Beaufighter ever since I made Airfix models as a kid. The Mozzie is still king in my mind but that's another story: Oslo Mosquito Raid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Mosquito_raid)

[Al R]

Agreed, good job!

[Geezers of Nazareth]

Gatward got a DFC for this flight, and 'George' Fern (who was actually Gilbert Fern) got a DFM. Fern made his final flight in 2010 (as detailed here ... FORMER East Dean Grammar School teacher and World War Two hero Gilbert Fernfrom Coleford has died aged 92. | This is Bath (http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/RAF-war-hero-flew-daring-Paris-mission/story-11352686-detail/story.html)

[Pittsextra]

They just sold for £41K

[Heathrow Harry]

hasn't someone at Odiham picked up a chestful?

[Tankertrashnav]

I believe that's true, although I don't know the details.

It may surprise some here to learn that the DFC was the most commonly awarded gallantry medal of WW2, with over 20,000 being awarded. Nevertheless, even a "routine" example, such as one won for a tour of bomber ops, will now sell for over £2,000.

Some modern army gallantry groups have already hit the salerooms and made very large sums. When any modern DFC groups are eventually sold, they will make similar prices because of their great rarity.

Oldbeefer has made the valid point that its a shame that medals get sold and says that they would be better kept in the family. I agree, but having been involved in buying and selling medals for 30 odd years I have discovered the sad fact that many families dont give a toss about medals they have inherited and can't wait to turn them into cash. In those case I often felt that it was a shame that the original recipient hadn't sold them and benefitted from the money raised themselves.

[Brian Abraham]

Nice article here Hero RAF pilot Ken Gatward dropped French flag from on to the Arc de Triomphe over Nazi-occupied Paris | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2239241/Hero-RAF-pilot-Ken-Gatward-dropped-French-flag-Arc-Triomphe-Nazi-occupied-Paris.html)

Photo from the article

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/11/27/article-2239241-163B58B6000005DC-54_634x413.jpg

[500N]

"Some modern army gallantry groups have already hit the salerooms and made very large sums. When any modern DFC groups are eventually sold, they will make similar prices because of their great rarity."


Wait until one of the DFC's won in the BN Chinook hits the sale rooms,
I would expect one of those to be sought after.